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The Ultimate Global Antipoverty Program

Extreme poverty fell to 15% in 2011, from 36% in 1990. Credit goes to the spread of capitalism.

By

Douglas A. Irwin

Nov. 2, 2014 6:54 p.m. ET

The World Bank reported on Oct. 9 that the share of the world population living in extreme poverty had fallen to 15% in 2011 from 36% in 1990. Earlier this year, the International Labor Office reported that the number of workers in the world earning less than $1.25 a day has fallen to 375 million 2013 from 811 million in 1991.

Such stunning news seems to have escaped public notice, but it means something extraordinary: The past 25...